Friends and Rivals

Steller J (https://www.facebook.com/stellerjj30/) - BC’s official provincial bird, the Steller’s Jay, is described as “Lively, inquisitive, noisy and mischievous.” It’s hard to top that when describing Steller J except to add “confusing,” since nobody can ever spell the boat’s name right, and everyone involved with the boat is called Paul (okay, perhaps not everyone, but certainly core team members Paul Thompson and Paul Doran).

Jasmina (https://www.facebook.com/groups/JasminaRacing/) - Jasmina, a Santana 30/30, is run by TCYC's Frank Rogers and KYC's Joe Gormley. The boat has been a fixture in Div 3 since well before Krikkit started racing, which makes it a lot like a barnacle, just somewhat faster. And yes, the little sailboats painted on Jasmina's topsides represent right-of-way fails, with the half-boat being a windsurfer.

Godzilla (https://www.facebook.com/GodzillaRacing?fref=ts) - After starting racing many years ago with a garden of sealife on the bottom and pick-up crew, VRC member Alan Ip and the dedicated team behind Godzilla have transformed the boat from a harmless little gecko into a formidable competitor on the race course. So it's now a large and angry-looking gecko in a really cool crew shirt.

Thursday's Child - VRC member Nick Flandin's Hotfoot 31 Thursday's Child is a well-known fixture on the Vancouver racing scene, having formerly raced under VRC member Benjamin Rummen. With a performance envelope similar to Krikkit's, "Problem Child", as we call the boat, is often close enough that we can hear Nick mentoring his crew, although it's often not clear whether he is actually speaking English. While we wait for Nick to create a web presence for the boat, we can enjoy the website of Benj's new boat The Fugitive - somewhere in historical annals are some adventures aboard the Child (www.thursdayschildsailing.com).

Rhumbline (www.facebook.com/EnglishBaySailing) - A long-time Div 3 competitor, the J/29 Rhumbline is also the fleet's most notorious stealth weapon, campaigned by the entirely disarming, cheerful and low-key combination of Martina Sonderhoff and Gord "Just-Gord". Meet them in the club lounge and you'd never guess just how much of a mercenary competitive streak lurks in their hearts. Encounter them on the race course and you'll soon realize that they're actually evil. Well, quasi-evil at any rate, or semi evil ... the Diet Coke of evil - just one calorie.

Dilligaf (http://twitter.com/dilligafsailing?lang=en) - Keith Climenhaga and his Ross 930 Dilligaf hail from Nanaimo, but we try not to hold that against him. Dilligaf makes it across the strait for an impressive number of races, typically showing up for the English Bay Scramble, Round Bowen, Fraser Lightships, Southern Straits, VRC's SHAG single-handed race and more. Ask Keith what the boat name "Dilligaf" means, and he'll explain that it's the English translation of his originally Germanic surname. Ask what "Climenhaga" means, and he'll fix you with a curious gaze and respond "Do I look like I give a f#@k?"

Talisman (http://talisman-sailing.com) - Shane Alfreds is another Vancouver Rowing Club member and Div 3 racer aboard his Santana 30/30, Talisman. With several Krikkit crewmembers having sailed on Talisman during the winter Polar Bear series and in the Southern Straits race, one would imagine we'd be able to remember the boat's name by now, but Shane is constantly having to remind us that it's Talisman with "sm" in the middle, not "b".

Equilibrium (https://www.facebook.com/equilibrium.racing?pnref=story) - Now owned by Bowen Island-based Davide Bizarri, Equilibrium is another long-time Div 3 boat, a J/29 sistership to Godzilla and Rhumbline. After disappearing from the racing scene for a while it returned with a splash in 2015 under new owners Andy Daetz and John Housser. They proved to be a formidable crew, and always won the party, but sold the boat after Andy moved to Australia and John got married. Equilibrium now turns up for occasional events including, of course, the Round Bowen Race.

Maritime Diva (http://www.maritimediva.com) - With a rating of 191, Kate Storey's C&C 29 Maritime Diva and its crew of maritime divas don't sail in VARC Div 3 events, but they occasionally compete in the same fleet as Krikkit during club events such as the FCYC Thursday Evening series. The Divas are known throughout the sailing community for their loud stereo, awesome attitude, and wicked foredeck dance moves. The bikini tops probably don't hurt either!

Excalibur (https://www.facebook.com/Schock35Excalibur?fref=ts) - Former Div 3 racer and "C-Dock Mafia" member Jason Vandergaag now runs a Schock 35 called Excalibur in Div 2, out of RVYC Jericho. We miss his daughter's pre-race trash-talk, and we miss the rum drinks, but we don't miss having having ten million tons of turbocharged Catalina 36 threatening to run us over at the mark roundings!